Terms and conditions
In this agreement, the following expressions shall be given the following meaning:
« The Service Provider » means DMC Translations.
« The Client » means any natural person, legal person or legal entity requiring his services.
All orders placed imply the Client's full acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, without any reservation whatsoever and to the exclusion of any other document. No special terms will take precedence over these Terms and Conditions unless expressly stated in writing on the final and binding purchase order.
The execution of any service by the Service Provider implies the Client accepts these Terms and Conditions and waives his own general terms and conditions. Any other disposition, in the absence of manifest consent, will be ineffective against the Service Provider, regardless of the time at which he may have been made aware of it. Any condition to the contrary shall not be binding to the Service Provider unless expressly accepted by the Service Provider in writing, regardless of when the Service Provider becomes aware of the condition.
That the Service Provider does not exercise one or more of the provisions in these Terms and Conditions shall not be interpreted as a waiver of the Service Provider's right to exercise any of the provisions in these Terms and Conditions at a later date.
Each order placed by the Client shall be preceded by a free quote issued by the Service Provider based on the documents to be translated or information provided by the Client.
The quote the Service Provider sends to the Client by regular mail, electronic mail, or fax shall include:
To confirm an order, the Client must return the unaltered quote with the Client's written approval and signature to the Service Provider by regular mail or fax if the quote was sent to the Client by regular mail or fax. If the Client received the quote by electronic mail, the Client may confirm the order by expressing this clear acceptance by return electronic mail. If the Service Provider does not receive the order confirmation, the Service Provider reserves the right not to commence work on the project concerned.
If confirmation of the order is not received within one (1) month of the date the quote is sent by the means stipulated above, the quote shall be considered null and void.
The Service Provider reserves the right, after informing the Client, to charge an additional fee and/or not to adhere to the delivery deadline on the Client's initial order in the following cases:
In the absence of the Client's express acceptance of the new delivery and/or invoicing conditions, the Service Provider reserves the right not to commence work.
Unless otherwise stated on the quote, costs incurred during the provision of services (travel, courier or postal fees, etc.) shall be borne by the Client.
Any decisions to offer a discount, reduction, or sliding fee scale based on a percentage or flat fee (per page, line or hour) are at the sole discretion of the Service Provider and only for the service to which they apply. Any discounts or rebates offered to the Client shall not create a right vested in interest concerning future services.
In the event that a quote is not sent to the Client before the commencement of work, translation services shall be invoiced at the base rate usually billed by the Service Provider. In such an event, the order shall be considered as a firm and definitive as soon as the Client accepts the delivery date supplied by the Service Provider.
The Client agrees to consider faxes, e-mails, copies, and computer files as equivalent to the original and valid proof that the order was confirmed.
Any order may be subject to a deposit, the amount of which shall be clearly stipulated in the quote. That being the case, work shall begin only once the payment of such a deposit has been made.
Any delivery date or dates agreed between the Service Provider and the Client shall become binding only once the Service Provider has received all the documents to be translated and if the Client has confirmed his/her order as specified in Paragraph 2 above within three (3) working days from the date of reception of the quote. After that time, the delivery deadlines may be revised if so required by the Service Provider's workload.
The Service Provider agrees to provide a translation that is as faithful as possible to the original and that complies with professional standards. He shall do everything possible to take into account and include in the translation information provided by the Client (glossaries, drawings, diagrams, abbreviations). The Service Provider shall not be held liable for any inconsistencies or ambiguities in the source text, the verification of the final text's technical coherence remaining the Client's sole responsibility.
The Client shall provide the Service Provider with all of the texts to be translated and all of the technical information required to understand the text and, if necessary, the specific terminology required. If the Client fails to inform the Service Provider, the Service Provider shall not be held liable if the translation does not conform to the Client's standards or if delivery is late.
The client has five (5) working days from the time the translated documents are received to inform the Service Provider in writing of any disagreement concerning the quality of the translation. Once this period has expired, the service shall be considered duly completed and no claims may be made. The client agrees to consider postal, fax, or electronic mail receipts as proof of delivery.
The Service Provider agrees to preserve the confidentiality of information the Service Provider becomes aware of before, during, and after providing services. Original documents shall be returned to the Client upon simple request.
The Service Provider shall not be held liable in the event that information is intercepted or used by a third party during the transfer of data, especially on the Internet. Therefore, the Client must inform the Service Provider before the provision of services or at the time the order is placed of the means of transmission the Client would like the Service Provider to use to ensure the confidentiality of any sensitive information.
Translations are delivered by electronic mail (in Word or Excel format). Any other means of delivery or formats must be expressly agreed to by the parties and may result in additional fees.
The liability of the Service Provider on any grounds whatsoever shall be limited to the invoiced value of the work. Under no circumstances shall the Service Provider be held liable for claims related to nuances of style.
It is expressly agreed that delivery deadlines are provided for information only and that missed deadlines shall not be considered grounds for penalties. The Service Provider shall not be held liable for direct or indirect harm to the Client or a third party resulting from late delivery due to force majeure, electronic mail, postal and other problems.
In the event of disagreements about certain aspects of the translation, the Service Provider reserves the right to correct these aspects in cooperation with the Client. If the translation is to be published, the Service Provider shall receive the printer's proofs to proofread them before the document goes to print. Unless otherwise specified in writing, all corrections will result in additional charges to be billed at the prevailing hourly rate.
Unless otherwise mentioned on the quote, payment in full to the Service Provider shall be made no later than thirty (30) days from the date of invoice.
In the case of payments by wire transfer from abroad, all forex and banking fees will not be specified on the quote and shall be borne by the Client. Translations remain the property of the Service Provider until payment has been received in full.
In the event of late payments, orders in progress can be unilaterally interrupted until full payment is received and the Client will be liable for a fixed late-payment penalty of 15% (fifteen per cent) of the invoice amount and a fixed sum of €40 (forty euros), as compensation for recovery costs, without any formal notice being required.
Before undertaking the translation of the document, the Client must ensure that the document does not infringe on any third-party rights. Therefore, the Client must be the author of the original document or have obtained written permission to have the document translated from the party holding the copyrights to the document.
If these conditions have not been ensured by the Client, under no circumstances shall the Service Provider be held liable if all or a portion of the documents to be translated were to infringe on the rights of a third party or violate any applicable regulations. If this were to occur, the Client shall be held solely liable for any harm or financial consequences resulting from the Client's negligence.
Furthermore, the Client acknowledges that the translation is a new document, whose copyright is held jointly by the author of the original document and the Service Provider. As a result, for literary or artistic translation, and without harm to the Service Provider's rights to the work, the Service Provider reserves the right to require that the Service Provider's name be mentioned on any copies or publications of the translation, in compliance with France’s Intellectual Property Code (paragraph L.132-11).
Unless the Client explicitly mentions otherwise, the Service Provider reserves the right to include in the production a commercial mention clearly indicating his contribution, such as the formula "translated by DMC Translations" which might be accompanied by a hypertext link to his website.
The Service Provider reserves the right to mention the work supplied to the Client on its external communication and advertising documents (website, portfolio, etc.) and when conducting sales prospecting. The Service Provider also reserves the right to publish the Client's comments and logo on his website for external communication and advertising purposes.
In the event of incapacity for work, due to illness or accident, the Service Provider reserves the right to modify the current schedule without the Client being able to require a payment for compensation. It is recognised that the Service Provider must notify the Client within the first three (3) working days of his incapacity.
The Service Provider or the Client cannot be considered as responsible or having failed in their contractual obligations, when the failure to perform the respective obligations is due to force majeure: the contract between these two parties is then suspended until the causes that generated force majeure disappear. Force majeure takes into account irresistible facts or circumstances, external to the parties, unforeseeable and beyond the control of the parties, despite all reasonable efforts to prevent them. Among circumstances constituting force majeure shall be considered wars, terrorist attacks, departmental, regional, national or international epidemics, such as that of Covid-19, blockade, political, traffic or supply disturbances, earthquakes, fires, storms, floods, lightning, equipment theft, communications networks shutdowns, and in particular all the networks accessible by Internet or other difficulties specific to telecommunications networks outside the two parties. The party affected by force majeure will notify the other one within five (5) working days from the date on which they become aware of the force majeure. The two parties will then agree on the conditions under which the execution of the contract will be continued.
If work that is commissioned is subsequently cancelled after work has commenced, for whatever reason, and notified in writing by the Client to the Service Provider, the Client shall pay the Service Provider the full contract sum (a hundred percent) for the work completed and half (fifty percent) for the uncompleted work.
In the event of the inability to reach the Customer, the Service Provider reserves the right to cancel the order anytime, in particular if the Customer does not acknowledge receipt of his invoice and no longer contacts him. Any scam attempt will permanently result in the cancellation and termination of the order, and will not result in any reimbursement from the Service Provider, even if the Client has paid a deposit or an amount greater than what was requested. If an amount has been paid, it will serve as compensation for the work done by the Provider until then and will not be refundable.
In the event of a complaint or dispute of any nature whatsoever, the Service Provider and the Client agree to attempt to settle the complaint or dispute amicably. The parties agree to do everything within their power to ensure that any arbitration should be successful. They agree to operate in good faith.
This Agreement shall be governed, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of France. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the French courts to resolve any contractual dispute.